Superformance Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and GT40 MKI

Nothing gets our blood boiling quite like a Shelby creation, even when it's a repop. There's just something infinitely awesome about old school performance, and in the case of this Superformance duo, it lives on today in a couple of recreations.

In 1961 Carroll Shelby convinced Lee Iacocca (then with Ford) to let him have access to a new aluminum truck engine being built in Canada. His plan was to stuff the engine into a British roadster then called the AC Ace. After a lot of hammering the car worked out and a bonafide legend was born.

Shelby called it the AC Cobra. The British car with the Canadian heart simply dominated American races. Sebring, Daytona — you name it Carroll and his Cobra won it. But in Europe? Not so much. The lightweight but topless roadsters had lousy aerodynamics and simply couldn't’t hit high enough speeds on the straights. Particularly the infamous Mulsane Straight at Le Mans. And yeah, it’s ironic that an American car could kick snot out of the competition in the curves, but then lose it when the road fails to wind. What to do?

Enter the Daytona Coupe. Shelby knew he needed a closed cockpit car if he was going to challenge Ferrari at Le Mans. The 250 GTOs were hitting 180 mph. Shelby put 23-year-old Pete Brock in charge of the Coupe’s design. Shelby didn’t trust Brock’s results. He brought in an aerodynamics specialist that agreed — Brock’s odd-looking Kammback body wouldn’t work. Miraculously, Shelby went with his boy Brock and this now classic design.

The results? Total domination. The new Coupe simply ran away from the field at Daytona (before being hobbled by busted differential). So much so that Shelby named it the Daytona. And when he brought his new Coupes to France in 1964, they hit 196 mph on the Mulsanne straight, humiliating Ferrari at Le Mans by finishing first in class and fourth overall. The Daytona Coupes achieved such complete supremacy that Enzo intrigued to get the 1964 Monza race cancelled thereby securing Ferrari’s overall season victory.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
Well, not quite. The real Le Mans veteran Coupes are worth about $5 million a pop. The Superformance Coupe is a replica intended for street use. As such, it’s bigger. The length has grown from 163 inches to 175. Width is wider (67 inches vs. 73) and the wheelbase is up 3 inches from 90 to 93. But Superformance claims that the increases are proportional and match GT40 and 427 Cobra chassis designer Bob Negstad’s original intent for the Coupe’s wheelbase — i.e. 93 inches. The new car’s heavier, too. The racing version weighed just 2,300 pounds. The Superformance Coupe? 2,900-3,000 lbs., depending on the engine you pick.

The beauty of the redesign is that the already excellent aerodynamics have actually improved over the original. Moreover, instead of the 289 cid motor making 380 hp and 283 lb-ft Bob Bondurant and Dan Gurney had to work with in the 1964 Coupes, the new car has a Roush 427 SR that delivers 566 hp and 563 torques. Not to mention that it's a downright comfortable car to drive, and with cold A/C to boot.

All of this power, coupled with a car that weighs less than a Z06 equals 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds, and the quarter mile flashes in 11.8 seconds at 122 mph. The Coupe also turns in a 1.07 on the skidpad, better than a Ferrari Enzo.

GT40 MKI
Is there a more legendary sight than a GT40 bathed in Gulf Oil colors? I would say no. This car is what is says it is: a beast. No power steering or power brakes. All the MKI has is an engine, a wheel and two seats. This particular beauty belongs to Superformance owner Lance Stander and he has it outfitted with a fuel-injected Roush 427 IR good for more than 500 horses at the wheels.

Driving the GT40 on the street is a waste. This thing is a full blown race car. Just how serious is it? 90% of the components are interchangeable with the original Le Mans winning race cars. Bury the throttle and not only are the Webber-style 8-stack inductors trying to suck the air out of your ears, the engine is trying to burrow into the passenger compartment.

Literally. Under full cane the motor pushes itself away from the transaxle and right into the small of you back. Not only that, but gravity is pushing you into the engine bay simultaneously. Sounds like a good time to me! This particular GT40 is good for a 3.3 second trip to 60mph, if you can handle it.